Reydovan Empire (2406)
In 2406, the Imperial Reydovan Empire is still a technological and economic powerhouse under the rule of Emperor Kieran I. This information is as it applies to the Star Trek: Revelations room. General Information Location The Reydovan Empire remains as it has since 2296, bordering the southern part of the United Federation of Planets, the Tholian Assembly, and the Klingon Empire. The Imperial capital of Reydovan Prime is towards the center of the Empire. Government Ever since solidifying his position in 2380, the Emperor has gained almost absolute power over the Empire, much as his official predecessor, Kiran Joshmaul, had until his abdication in 2375. When Kieran began his reign, he had very little real power, most of the important decisions being made by the Chancellor (at the time, Joshua Underwood). By 2380, however, with the defeat of the Empire of Defileron in 2376 and the mopping up of the Separatists in 2377-2379, the power of Kieran's advisors began to wane and more power now in the hands of the Emperor. The Chancellorship, vacant since 2403, is normally the head of government, leading the Imperial Parliament in making the Empire's laws. He is essentially the voice of the Emperor to the Imperial lawmakers, ensuring that the Emperor's commands and the laws of the Empire went hand-in-hand. The Chancellor also served as the chief judicial officer, enforcing the laws made by the Parliament, in his capacity as the Grand Inquisitor (chief justice) of the High Inquisitorate, the Imperial supreme court. The Chancellor and his council of five Inquisitors serve as judge, prosecutor and jury. The usual sentence for a convicted criminal in the Inquisitorate is death, and is usually carried out immediately. But unlike "kangaroo courts" that work in a very similar fashion, the Inquisitorate takes all the facts into account, and there has in fact been a far greater amount of acquittals than death sentences - though the number of death sentences was fairly high until about 2378. There has only been two death sentences since the public executions after the Battle of Defileron (see below). The Law of the Empire The Empire's First Law is simple: The Emperor's power is absolute. His word is the law; anyone who defies him is imprisoned or executed. But despite this absolutist outlook, Emperor Kieran remains very much a man of the people, and thus gives no reason for anyone to defy him. The last public executions carried out by the Empire were that of the Federation officer-turned-Separatist warlord Dawson Crenshaw and former Gorak'nar High Inquisitor Jaeden'laek XVI, on January 1, 2377. The event was attended by Federation President Talus of Vulcan and Gorak'nar High Inquisitor Velenkayn VI, and held in the courtyard of the Imperial Palace on Reydovan Prime. Both men were tried by a tribunal led by Velenkayn, Chancellor Underwood, and General Jeremiah Neill, commandant of the Starfleet Marine Corps. The evidence against them was overwhelming, and both were convicted and sentenced to death. Crenshaw, being a former Starfleet officer in good standing, was allowed to choose his method of execution. Crenshaw, remorseful over the mass slaughter he had committed but unshaken from his xenophobia, demanded a firing squad...and that was precisely what he received. Jaeden'laek, captured by Admiral Ian Taylor (who received an immediate promotion after the fact), was executed in Gorak'nar fashion - he was stretched out on a rack and impaled with his own crystalline staff, then beheaded by Velenkayn himself..."a rare honor you do not deserve", as the High Inquisitor put it. After the executions, being magnanimous in his victory, Kieran joined with the Federation President and the Gorak'nar High Inquisitor in pardoning all the surviving Separatists - Federation, Reydovan and Gorak'nar alike - who had been coerced by Demon-Kieran into fighting for the Empire of Defileron. Defileron itself was consumed by the fires of volcanic and tectonic instability brought on by the detonation of the energy converter that powered the mountain fortress-city of Artimopolis. The most momentous event in the Empire before Kieran's silver jubilee was the Imperial Centennial, in 2396. It celebrated the crowning of Emperor Joshmaul I and the long reign he led, and also the crowning of Kieran as Emperor in 2376. The Reydovan People The Empire is very much a mixed-bag of peoples and cultures, much like the Federation. However, the Empire was founded by Eugenics, or descendants of Eugenics, from various corners of the Earth. About 70% of the Imperial population are Eugenics, living often longer lives than "normal" humans. It is not unknown for there to be mixes of genetics - in the case of Emperor Kieran, he is half Eugenic, one quarter El-Aurian and one quarter unaugmented human; he is expected, barring any severe illnesses or unforeseen accidents, to live to at least two hundred. The other 30% of the Imperial population is made up primarily of El-Aurians, unaugmented humans, and the "Mixed Matches" - cross-breeding of the unaugmented humans, Eugenics, and El-Aurians. Strangely enough, the nickname comes from the "Mixed Matches" themselves, and it has been adopted by the Reydovan people. History On October 10, 2296, two former Starfleet admirals, Kiran Joshmaul and Joshua Underwood, created the foundation of the Reydovan Empire in a secret meeting that became known as the Conclave of Serenia. The following day, Joshmaul became Emperor Joshmaul I, and began a reign that lasted nearly eighty years (Joshmaul and Underwood were genetically engineered for incredible longevity - at the time of his crowning, Joshmaul was 336 years old, Underwood 309). Joshmaul had been a wanted criminal when he vanished in 2276, and he was considered dead - until he was discovered in 2298. Admiral Daniel Neill, Chief of the General Staff, led his flagship, the Excelsior-class Independence, to build a starbase for the Reydovan people (the colony of Reydovan Prime was independent, but had made trade and defense agreements with the Federation). Upon entering the Korolev Expanse, Neill's ship was ambushed by Underwood, now Grand Admiral of the Imperial Navy, and his small but volatile fleet. Neill was forced to surrender, and - in exchange for his life - swore allegiance to the Emperor. Thus, a bloody three year war began between the Reydovan Empire and the United Federation of Planets began. One would think that the Federation, being larger and better equipped, would have won, and the Empire would be in the Federation. But this was a Federation weakened by the Khitomer Accords, forced to disarm as a provision of the Accords. It ground to a stalemate in 2301. The outgoing President of the Federation, Ra-ghoratrei of Efros, met with Emperor Joshmaul on Korolev Prime, the closest Imperial world to the border. Underwood, who was a diplomat as well as a military leader, negotiated the treaty that stated that both empires would recognize the other's sovereignty, and that the nearby Korolev Expanse would be the border between the Federation and the Empire. Ra-ghoratrei agrees, and the treaty is signed on August 11, 2301. Involvements in War Joshmaul enjoyed a relatively peaceful reign after the war with the Federation ended. But nearly five decades later, in 2349, the Reydovan Empire fought the Sha'kurian Duchies, an empire on the other side of the Reydovan Empire from the Federation, in a dispute over the expansion of the Empire's borders. At first, the war went badly for the Empire - but an ingenious major general named Jeremiah Neill - born six days after the signing of the Treaty of Korolev - led his Imperial Marine force into the heart of the Sha'kurian offensive. At the Battle of Belle Terre, in a move known as the Charge of Neill's Ninety, the general forced the Sha'kurians to retreat and, eventually, surrender. Twenty years later, rumors of a war with the Dominion of the Gamma Quadrant reached Joshmaul's ears. Thinking it was a purely Federation war, Joshmaul remained uninvolved in the Dominion War...but his commanders were not quite as cautious. Three - Daniel Longstreet, Jeremiah Neill and Jonathan Ross - asked for, and received, permission from the Imperial government to join the Starfleet war effort. Longstreet and Neill entered SFMC service as generals, and Ross as a captain. During the war, Longstreet became commandant and Neill his XO, while Ross earned a reputation as a hell-raiser - earning six Purple Hearts and the Medal of Honor for his service during the war. He left the battlefields of the Dominion War as a brigadier general, in 2375. The Great Change On March 17, 2375, Joshmaul abdicated his throne and returned to Starfleet himself, as chief of Starfleet Operations. During his fifteen year tenure - with only one minor absence in 2383-2384 - Joshmaul quickly became a respected figure in Starfleet. He was the Federation's leading expert on the Omega particle, and aided the Federation in combatting the weapons his engineers had once created...weapons that were in the hands of his greatest student and greatest nemesis, Artimus Devaneaux. During that interregnum in 2375-2376, in which the Chancellor effectively ruled the Empire, Artimus had claimed the throne for himself, a claim not recognized by Joshmaul or the Empire. In March 2376, Joshmaul backed Artimus' son Kieran, then only 21, as the new Emperor. During Kieran's reign, Artimus was finally brought down by the Federation and Imperial forces. But Artimus' followers, under a clone of Kieran known as "Demon-Kieran", gained possession of the Omega weapon, known as the Hand of Joshmaul, and used it to attack Earth. But the Demon's plan was foiled once again by a Federation and Imperial coalition. During the short war that followed, from June to December 2376, the command structure of the Separatist movement, now known as the "Empire of Defileron", was almost totally obliterated. By the end of the conflict, Demon-Kieran was dead, and the Hand of Joshmaul destroyed. After the Battle of Defileron After his victory at Defileron, Kieran began to gain far more power on the Emperor's throne, until in 2380, he became the near-absolute ruler; the Chancellor still controlled most government matters, but Kieran made clear - the Emperor, not the Chancellor, ruled the Empire. Since the end of the Defileron War, the Empire has remained at peace. Joshua Underwood, the long-standing Chancellor, retired in 2380; in 2384 he returned to Starfleet as deputy chief of Starfleet Operations to Kiran Joshmaul. Both he and Joshmaul retired in 2391; Joshmaul is now running for the Federation Council, while Underwood serves as an informal advisor and ambassador-at-large for the Emperor. Most recently, the Emperor celebrated his silver jubilee on March 9, 2401. Over the years, however, the Federation and the Reydovan Empire began to drift apart; the Emperor is now focused on re-establishing the friendship with the Federation. Category:Reydovan Empire